Stay Informed

46 years ago today, the Supreme Court issued its historic ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut, overturning the Connecticut state law that criminalized the use of contraceptives and recognizing that the Constitution protects the right to privacy. Five years after Griswold, Congress enacted Title X, which provides federal funding to family planning services for the uninsured and for low-income families. Griswold also paved the way for Roe v. Wade, which ruled that a woman’s choice to have an abortion was a constitutionally protected private decision.

But 46 years after Griswold, access to both contraception and abortion services are still under attack from the Right. Right-wing legislatures across the country just this year have passed numerous laws restricting women’s access to abortion. In addition, putting access to contraception and health care at great risk, Indiana last month adopted a law cutting off all state funding to Planned Parenthood.

Republicans in Congress are also going after access to contraception, in the form of Title X funding. In February, the House passed a budget bill that would put a stop to all Title X funding, including examinations to screen for sexually transmitted infections, breast cancer, and diabetes. The bill also included a provision to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. Those draconian provisions didn’t make it into law, but a provision preventing DC from using its own local tax dollars to help fund abortions for low-income residents did.

We’ve come a long way in 46 years…but we’re also still fighting many of the same battles to exercise the rights guaranteed to us in the United States Constitution.

NPR reports today on Republican efforts to gut funding to Title X family planning clinics, which “serve 15 percent of women in the United States who obtain contraceptive prescriptions or supplies, or who receive an annual checkup for birth control.” In February, all but three Republican representatives voted for a budget proposal that completely nixed Title X funding, after approving an amendment that also strips Planned Parenthood of all federal funds. As NPR reports, Rep. Mike Pence, the sponsor of the Planned Parenthood amendment, actually thinks that Title X funding is a good thing….but is willing to use it as a bargaining chip to achieve his ultimate goal of decimating Planned Parenthood:

Supporters of defunding have characterized it as an effort to strip funds from Planned Parenthood and other organizations that use other funds to provide legal abortions, without singling out any particular group. The House in February voted 240-185 to defund Title X in the current budget year.

But even staunch anti-abortion legislators like Rep. Mike Pence, the Indiana Republican who has crusaded against federal funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, say that jettisoning the Title X program may be going too far.

"I've never advocated reducing funding for Title X," Pence said during a recent radio interview with the chairman of a county Right to Life organization in his home state.

"Title X clinics do important work in our inner cities," Pence said. "They provide health services for women and children that might not otherwise have access to them."

…

So, why have Republican House members set their sights on the $327 million that would fund the program this year?

The answer, largely, is Planned Parenthood and politics.

Social conservatives have pressed House Republicans to make cutting off federal funds to Planned Parenthood a priority; but they see room for negotiation over Title X funds.

As congressional Republicans attempt to pass measures to end funding to Planned Parenthood and the Title X program, health care providers fear the devastating consequences for women and health care services. The Hartford Courant reports that Republican legislation could force Planned Parenthood to shut down many of the organization’s clinics. Far-right groups like the Family Research Council say that “there are plenty of other clinics out there to take up the slack,” but health care providers don’t buy the misinformed rhetoric of groups like the FRC, and worry about the GOP’s attack on women’s health care:

"I can't even imagine what would happen if Planned Parenthood's patient base would suddenly have to be absorbed here or at other clinics," said Dr. Peter J. Beller, the director of Hartford Hospital's Women's Ambulatory Health Services.

…

"Defunding Planned Parenthood would be the moral equivalent of turning off the electricity and a whole segment of health care would go dark," said Mark Masselli, the president of Community Health Center Inc., which serves a population of about 130,000 uninsured and working poor patients in 12 cities throughout the state.

"Many women in the state would just go without vital reproductive health services," Masselli said. "This is what people just don't seem to understand. There just is no other capacity in Connecticut for what Planned Parenthood provides."

…

The state's new health commissioner, Dr. Jewel Mullen, cites another reason for opposing defunding. In February, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing that the national birth rate for teens was dropping dramatically, with Connecticut registering the fourth-lowest teen birth rate in the country.

Mullen said Planned Parenthood's birth-control services — especially to the urban poor — have played an important role in lowering the teen birth rate.

"Statistics show that as few as one-third of teen mothers finish high school," Mullen said. "Less than 2 percent finish college. That has huge social and economic costs. You can't be very optimistic about the outcome for this group if they don't have access to basic reproductive services."

In wake of Live Action’s smear campaign against Planned Parenthood, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) introduced the “Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act.” Pence’s bill would cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, which Katha Pollitt of The Nationnotes is the “largest network of clinics for family planning and women’s health, and in many regions the only provider within reach,” especially for women without health insurance. Republicans in Congress and their far-right allies have consistently attempted to de-fund Planned Parenthood, and Pence’s legislation wouldn’t de-fund abortion but instead seriously jeopardize other women’s health services.

“The funding that Planned Parenthood receives from the government goes to family planning, contraception, sex education, and prevention and treatment of STIs,” writes Robin Marty of RH Reality Check, “and is carefully monitored so that none of it is used to provide abortions, as per federal law.”

The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Information has more information on the importance of Title X and the important role clinics like Planned Parenthood play in providing access to vital health services for women:

In addition to contraception, Title X funds a range of preventive health care services free of charge to individuals at or below the poverty level. A sliding fee scale ensures that low to moderate income women are also able to access these services, including: